Using awareness training to decrease nervous habits during public speaking

This study evaluated the effectiveness of awareness training for the reduction of three nervous habits that manifest during public speaking: filled pauses, tongue clicks, and inappropriate use of the word “like.” Four university students delivered short speeches during baseline and assessment sessions. Awareness training resulted in meaningful reductions in target behaviors for all participants. Booster awareness training sessions were necessary for all participants to achieve further reductions in target behaviors. Generality probes conducted in front of a small audience indicated that treatment effects generally maintained. Social validity scores indicated that the treatment was acceptable, and participants indicated not only decreased use of verbal fillers, but also improved overall public speaking ability posttreatment.     

A Validation Study of the Need for Affect Questionnaire–Short Form in Legal Contexts

We evaluated the psychometric properties of scores on the Need for Affect–Short Form (NAQ–S) in 3 samples: undergraduate students (Sample I), jury-eligible community members (Sample II), and forensic clinicians (Sample III). Concerning factor structure, the NAQ–S 2-factor structure displayed good fit to the data in Sample I, with mostly acceptable levels of internal consistency for both approach and avoidance scores. Construct validity patterns were observed such that approach scores were most strongly correlated with female gender and trait agreeableness scores, whereas avoidance scores were most strongly correlated to trait agreeableness scores. Criterion validity associations emerged in that approach scores displayed main effects on mock juror judgments in hate crimes, and forensic clinician judgments of violence risk estimation. Finally, avoidance scores displayed moderating effects on recommended sentencing length by hate crime victim type. Implications are discussed for emotion in legal decision making and future research.     

Psychological Experiences Associated with Robotic Chair Massage: A Pilot Study

This pilot study examined 186 healthy adults who received a 20-min full-body massage in a robotic massage chair. The majority of the participants rated the experience to be highly pleasurable, and this evaluation was influenced by age and life satisfaction. Large changes in pre- to post-massage symptoms of anxiety and tranquillity were also observed. These preliminary findings support the psychological effectiveness of robotic chair massage which can be readily used by lay people and professionals alike to promote mental health and well-being.     

The ethics and politics of the brain drain: A communal alternative to liberal perspectives

In Debating Brain Drain, Gillian Brock and Michael Blake both draw on a liberal moral-political foundation to address the issue, but they come to different conclusions about it. Despite the commonly held value of free and equal persons having a dignity that grounds human rights, Brock concludes that many medical professionals who leave a developing country soon after having received training there are wrong to do so (if they do not provide compensation) and that the state may place some limits on their ability to exit, whereas Blake infers that there is neither any wrongdoing on their part, nor rightful restrictions placed on them. In this article, rather than sort out which has the better interpretation of what liberalism entails, I consider the medical brain drain in the light of an alternative normative framework, one informed by ideals of communion salient in the sub-Saharan moral tradition. I argue that a principle of prizing communal relationships more naturally entails Brock’s conclusions than does her appeal to liberalism.     

Doing Gender Online: New Mothers’ Psychological Characteristics,Facebook Use,and Depressive Symptoms

Online social networking sites, such as Facebook, have provided a new platform for individuals to produce and reproduce gender through social interactions. New mothers, in particular, may use Facebook to practice behaviors that align with their mothering identity and meet broader societal expectations, or in other words, to “do motherhood.” Given that Facebook use may undermine well-being, it is important to understand the individual differences underlying new mothers’ experiences with Facebook during the stressful first months of parenthood. Using survey data from a sample of 127 new mothers with Facebook accounts residing in the U.S. Midwest, we addressed two key questions: (a) Are individual differences in new mothers’ psychological characteristics associated with their use and experiences of Facebook? and (b) Are new mothers’ psychological characteristics associated with greater risk for depressive symptoms via their use and experiences of Facebook? Regression analyses revealed that mothers who were more concerned with external validation of their identities as mothers and those who believed that society holds them to excessively high standards for parenting engaged in more frequent Facebook activity and also reported stronger emotional reactions to Facebook commentary. Moreover, mothers who were more concerned with external validation were more likely to have featured their child in their Facebook profile picture. Mediation analyses indicated that mothers who were more prone to seeking external validation for their mothering identity and perfectionistic about parenting experienced increases in depressive symptoms indirectly via greater Facebook activity.     

Should Genetic Testing be Offered for Children? The Perspectives of Adolescents and Emerging Adults in Families with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome

Whether children should be offered genetic testing for cancer risk is much debated but young voices are rarely heard in these conversations. The current study explored perspectives of genetic testing held by adolescents and emerging adults in families with Li Fraumeni syndrome (LFS). Twelve 12- to 25-year-olds in families with LFS completed qualitative interviews for this study. All believed that testing should be offered for children but many qualified this statement saying parental approval would be needed and testing should be optional. Genetic testing was seen as way to learn of risk status, allow for disease prevention efforts, and reduce uncertainty and anxiety. Perceived disadvantages included negative emotions associated with the testing result. Participants generally felt that children should be involved in the testing decision, but that parents could unilaterally decide to have a child tested in certain circumstances (e.g., young age, high risk). All who were aware of having been tested and of their test result (n = 7; 4 positive) said testing had no negative impact on their outlook and they agreed with the decision to undergo testing. Implications of these findings for clinical practice and future research are discussed.     

Driving and riding avoidance following motor vehicle crashes in a non-clinical sample: psychometric properties of a new measure

Three studies were conducted to assess the reliability and validity of a measure that we developed using a non-clinical sample of university undergraduates, the Driving and Riding Avoidance Scale (DRAS). Study 1 indicated that the scale was internally consistent (α=0.92) and that a four-factor model (general avoidance, avoidance of traffic and busy roads, avoidance of weather or darkness, and riding avoidance) provided the best fit to the data in a sample of 386 crash survivors. This study also revealed that survivors who received medical treatment for their crash-related injuries reported significantly greater avoidance than people who were uninjured or injured and not medically treated. Study 2 revealed that the DRAS possessed acceptable test-retest reliability (r=0.83) over a 4-week interval in a sample of 67 crash survivors. Using a sample of 118 survivors, study 3 examined the instrument’s convergent and divergent validity through correlations with the Accident Fear Questionnaire (AFQ), the Mobility Inventory (MI), the Fear Survey Schedule-II (FSS-II), and the Fear Questionnaire (FQ). The strongest relationships were observed between the DRAS and the AFQ and with a driving subscale created from the MI items. The DRAS exhibited significantly weaker relationships with the FQ subscales that assessed other kinds of phobic avoidance.     

Test-retest reliability of the Mirowsky-Ross 2 x 2 Index of the Sense of Control

This study investigated the short-term stability of the 1991 Mirowsky-Ross 2 x 2 Index of the Sense of Control. From an ongoing longitudinal study, 304 subjects were randomly selected for test-retest interviews occurring 1 to 4 days after their regularly scheduled first follow-up interview. Test-retest reliability was assessed at the item level using percent agreement and weighted kappa. At the scale score level, reliability was assessed with the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). ICCs were also calculated within categories of demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, and functional status characteristics. There was moderate to substantial item-level agreement (mean weighted kappa = 51; weighted kappa range = .38 to .66). At the scale score level there was substantial agreement (ICC = .71). No appreciable differences in ICC values were found in the demographic, socioeconomic, psychosocial, and functional comparisons of status characteristics. Thus, this sense of control measure has acceptable test-retest reliability and is appropriate for use in longitudinal research.     

Analysis of response allocation in individuals with multiple forms of stereotyped behavior

Three experiments were conducted to evaluate response allocation of stereotypy during free-operant and restricted-operant conditions. Five children with autism or related developmental disabilities participated in at least one and up to three of the experiments. In Experiment 1, the stereotypic response that emerged as most probable during a free-operant phase was restricted, and response allocation was again evaluated. The results for 3 participants showed that restricting the high-probability response was correlated with covarying reductions in a nontargeted stereotypy. In Experiment 2, the effect of environmental enrichment on response allocation was evaluated. One participant reallocated behavior to appropriate object manipulation, 1 participant showed no change in behavior, and a 3rd participant reallocated behavior to object manipulation only when the putative stimulus products of the object manipulation matched those of stereotypy. In Experiment 3, additional interventions were implemented to promote response reallocation. Results showed that both response restriction and reinforcement for object manipulation decreased stereotypy and increased object manipulation. Collectively, the results of these experiments point to a need for complex evaluations of interventions for stereotypy.     

Warm and homely or cold and beautiful? Sex differences in trading off traits in mate selection

Prior research and theory suggest that people use three main sets of criteria in mate selection: warmth/trustworthiness, attractiveness/vitality, and status/resources. In two studies, men and women made mating choices between pairs of hypothetical potential partners and were forced to make trade-offs among these three criteria (e.g., warm and homely vs. cold and attractive). As predicted, women (relative to men) placed greater importance on warmth/trustworthiness and status/resources in a potential mate but less importance on attractiveness/vitality. In addition, as expected (a) ratings of ideal standards partly mediated the link between sex and mate choices, (b) ideal standards declined in importance from long-term to short-term relationships, with the exception of attractiveness/vitality, and unexpectedly, (c) sex differences were higher for long-term (compared to short-term) mate choice. Explanations and implications are discussed.